Sighting apparatus for ordnance.



No. 887,023. 'PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

K. VULLER. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

APPL IGATION FILEDJ'AN. 30, 1905.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.. INVENTEIR v FTNESSES WITN essfs f PATENTED MAY 5, 1908. K. VULLER. I

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANOE. APPLIQATIOF FILED JAR. 30,1905- f a mums-sums.

. INVENTEIR 4 MM 0% J4. aw

N5. 887,023. PATENTED MAY5,1958.

K. VOLLBR,

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANCE. '7

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30,1905.

7 sums-SHEET 4.

-ATTU awe/5 INVENTEI R No. 387,023. PATENTED MAY 5,- 190.s.

K. VULLER.

S IGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDN ANGB.

r 0 T on II'LED J .30 1905. H H A I M 7SHEETSSHEBT 0.

I INV ENTEIR I PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

} K. VGLLER, I SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANCE.

' APPLIOATIOH TILED JAN. 30. 1906.-

7 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

llllltlllllrrllirll I!!! '44 llildlllllr WiTN ES 5E5 INVENTEIR e/iw wee v k T rn RNEVS i the-axis ol' the gun was WJKQRL vol/Liza, or

UL'SSELUUIH". GERMANY ASSIUNOR TO RHEINISQHE METALLWAREN- l Nl') ASP-HINENFARR]Ii, ()l" 'Dl'RSELIN.)RF-DERENDURF, GERMANYv .Toull w/mm it 1;, 3 concern:

"Bc itgknown that I, KARL YbLLnu, Luigi-1.

a ms-'1 a. subject of the Gern'ian Emperor, rcsidiilg at Dusseldorf, +17'Ji'1licherstrasse, Gerv, have inve 'ited certain new and useful 1m rov'eme'nts in Sighting Apparatus for on mncej and I do hereby declare the fol- -lowmg'to be a'full, clear and exact de'scri non of the invention, such as will enab e others skillcdin the art to which it appcrtains to'make and use the same.

()n'tir'ing with rifled guns as is known a lateral'deviation ol' the trajectory takes place,

whichis caused by the action ol the riding '15 Ji'tch upon the trajectory of the projectile. .l"the'axis -ol"thc gun is directed accurately upon, a vertical linens the mark, then the striking point will not be situated in this line, b with a certain range it. will be situated :1 distance laterally from such line proportion-1 ate'to the range. The line of sight of the gun inustthcrcl'ore form a certain angle with fl -thefaxis ot' the gun, and, this angle must be varied according to the variation of the range. 'lhiswas heretofore provided ioriin gunsn'ith sighting device attached dircctly to the gun or, in the case of guns-recoiling on th'e carriage, connected to the cradle or upper carriage) by imparting to the rod of 3 one sight mount connected to the gun, a position inclined to the vertical plane passing through the gun's'axis. if the elevation of tithe gun \\-'as al tered for an increased range the said rod had to be moved upwards by hand along its guiding support, in conse quence of which the distance of the back sight from the vertical plane passing through altered. The angle 1 which the line of sight forms with the said vertical plane is consequently altered by the shifting of the said rod. With sighting devices in; which the line of sight'is independent iz-zof the gun, i. (a, in which the line of sight retains its position when the elevation of the gulr isnlteregl according to the range, the said deviation fault cannot be corrected in so sin'iple ainanner. T116 present inventionrelates, on the one, hand, to a sighting apparatusl'or those guns in which-the line of sight is independentof the elevating motion or the gun, and on the other hand,to those gun's'l fwliiclh th'line of i: F'sigh-t is:determined-by means-0r fore sigh t" and a back-sight, in order by a certain construction'ot the fore sight to all'ord the pos- Specification of Letters Patent.

.t'erred embodiments of my invention, in 0011- position of the parts in the base.

the "bracket being torn SIGHTING -APPARATUS F OR ORDNANCE.

Patented m 5, 1908.

Application filed January 30, 1905. Serial No. 243,381.

sibility of efi'ectin the necessary correction I of the deviation, a so in the case of'guns'with independent line of sight, thisbeingetl'ected automaticallyl'orall ranges.

I will now specifically describe some pre motion with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 shows a part side elevation of a gun with an embodiment ol' the improved sighting apparatus combined therewith, Fig. 2 shows a rear end View thereof partly in section. Figs. 3 and 4 show by cross-sections through the cradle two different positions'ot the-forc-sight. Fig. 5 shows iliagrammatically the shifting ol the line of sight. Figs; 6-12 show modification ol' the present invention. Fig. (i is a cross-section showingthc" horizontal position of the gun, andwith a level position of the wheel-base, and Fig. 7 shows the position with the greatest elevation of the gun, and a" level position ol the wheel.-base. Fig. 8 shows the position of the parts with a horizontal position ol" the gun and-an inclined position of the wheel-base, while Fig. 9 shows the position of the parts with the 'reatest elevation of the gun and an inclined Wheel- Fig. 10 shows a sidefview of a part of the gun and upper carria e with the sighting s apparatus. Figs. 11 and-12 show top-plan views of thesame with the sighting apparatus in different positions.-' l3 is a part side View of another modification, Fig. 14 shows a plan view thereof and Fig. 15 is a detail transverse section partly iii-elevation,through the axis 1).

As to Figs. 1--5 the line mined by the edge of the back sight d which' is carried by the curved elevating bar of of the gun, and the point of the fore sight c carried bythe support C. Fig. 1 of-the drawings shawsthe line of sight in the horizontal position, the'axisof the gun being also in the horizontal position. Fig. 3 shows the position of the fore sight, viewed from the Y of sight is deterrear, for the horizontal position of the line of sight and'the gun axis' Ri idly fixed to the gun'.cradl e is a curved guii e bracket f of a dove-tailed cross section, the curvature of .10.] ied'as an arc struck from tl1e, -center of the pivots or trunnions f "oftlie gunB. Ont his curved guide bracket is mounted the curved slide 1 which carries the fore sight 0 by means of the support C.

bracket i pivoted to the brac et'Z carrying the gun cradle A.

. Rigidly fixed to the gun cradle is a frame piece A in which the elevating bar (1 is ided and in which a shaft is rotatable. T e elevating bar (1 is provi ed with teeth with which engages a pinion p fixed on the shaft p. At the other end of this shaft is fixed a worm- Wheel g on aging with a worm r fixed on the shaft of a and wheel 8. As will be seen,

-by turning the hand wheel 8 motion is given to the worm wheel q, and the pinion pfiwhereby the gun B and the cradle A are swung round the pin i, the frame iece A sliding alon the elevating bar d. T e elevating bar an the line of sight remain stationary. At its lower end the elevatin bar d passes through a frame iece t rigin ly connected with the arm a of t e cradle support 2. In the frame iece t a sha t a is supported in suitable earings. On the shaft a is fixed a inion c engaging with the teeth of the elevating, bar. A worm wheel w fixed on the shaft it engages with a worm :r provided with a hand wheel y. If the latter is rotated .in one or the other direction the elevatin hard is moved up or down together with the gun and the cradle. By rotating the hand wheel 1 therefore the un and the line of sight are moved together.

his movement is especially for ad usting the gun in accordance with the angle of the ground. When however the rear end of they un is moved downward along the elevating ar (Z b means of the upper toothed gear shown, y rotating thehand wheel 8, the two armed lever i as also the end 1) thereof remain in their original position, and by this means the fore sight 0 will be held by the slide 1, also in its original position. The curved guide bracket however will move upwards relatively to t 1e slide f and in conse uence the fore si ht c and its support C will be shifted latera ly to the left, i. e., will be moved a greater 'distance from the axis of the n.

Fig. 4 shows the position of these arts when the gun has received its highest 0 evation. The distance of the foresight from the axial plane of the gun will thereby have been increased by the amount E. As shown at Fig. 5, the line of sight will by this motion have been shifted horizontally through the an lo a. a

evident that in imparting the requisite ele;

vation to the gun, the latter will not move upwards in a verticalplane, but will also. simultaneously have a lateral motion imparted to it. If, on the other hand, the gun were to be turned down out of the elevated position then tion passing through the guns axis is parallel to the line of sight, on the gun assumin the horizontal position the line of sight am the guns' axis would forin'an angle with each other. These disadvantages resulting from an inclined position of the wheel-base may be obviated by so arranging the beforementioned arc-shaped plece or bracket (which, in elev'atingthe gun, slides'up and down relatively to a slide carrying the foresight and thereby effects the automatic lateral shifting of the foresight), that it is 9 pivotally arranged u on an axis parallel to the uns axis, in or( er to enable the angle whic it forms with the vertical plane through the guns axis to be varied corre-' spondingly to the angle formed between the trunnion axis of the gun-carriage and a horizontal plane. Such an arrangement'is shown in Figs. 6-12 of the drawings. in the said figures, to the upper carriage A or to the un B is attached the arc-shaped piece or bracket fupon which can slide the foresight a, when on elevating the gun, the bracket moves upwards. In this'motion, as shown in Fi s. 6 and 7, the foresight c is shifted lateral to the extent E in ccmsequencc of the inc ination'of the bracket f.

Now in the present mmiification, the bracket f is pivotally mounted at l" andcan; for example, be adjusted on this pivot by Eroviding on the bracket a toothed quadrant with which is engaged a worm ii that can be turned by a button. With the adjustable bracket f is advantageously combined a spirit-level'which assumes the middle position when the gun and line of sightare in the I he apparatus, described with relation to 1 maybe required to bring the sight on the tarif in this position the projcfron1it. In the example illustrated in the --tl1e5 sigliti ngaand elevating of the gun is -tended connecting line. of the axes of the rosuc'h:that the backsight is shifted. towards.

wvided with teeth on its lower surface in en- J which maybe provided with the usual grada- -Upon.

ge,t,3whereupon the gun will be pro pointed. in Fig. 8 is shown such an 'a .justf -nie-nt of the bracket Fig. it shows the lateralshif 'irgof the foresight caused by the increased: nclin-ation of the brackctf. \Vhen i thev gun is elevated to a greater angle, this lateral shift-CE is considerablygreater than: the shift E shown at Figs. 6 and 7 when the trunnion axis of the carriage is horizontal, such shift'E serving in this case solely to correct/the lateral deviation due to the rifting .pito'h'. j y Figstltl-tomof the drawings show an arrangement whereby the described lateral shift is imparted, not .u'l v to the foresight, but also to thebacksight, and whereby also theiinvention is applied to the case wherein lperly effected: byaithe aid of a sighting telesco )e; To the foresight c is connected the one end of I a two-ar1ned lever a, pivotally mounted upon a vertical axis 1), and carrying at its other end (which is free.) a panorama telescope e also, in". the example shown, the backsight (Z mounted on a lateral arm thereof. 'lhe optical axis of the panorama telescope coincides in the horizontal projection with the extatable pivots n and?) which line is. parallel to: the line of sight determined by the foresight'c'and backsight d. If the foresight is shifted laterally on. the bracket f-the twoarmed lever .(t and consequently also the optical axis of the panorama telescope e and the-- backsight dare shifted, the motion being the gunwhen the foresight is shifted away drawing, the vertical axis b of the two-armed lever is shown as carried by a sleeve I), loose upon'the trunnion i. and provided with a downward extending sector b which is .pro-

gagement with a worm If capable of being .turned by amilled head b. The said sector I)" carries a levelif'. To the sleeve '0 is also atta .'-.lied a rearward extending sect or' b tions, not shown, to indicate the angle of-elevation of the'gun-barrel, said graduations being. read, by'theaid of'an index consisting ofcaira'rm Ifl'iixed to". the gun-trunnionp )lant-ing'the gun, the milled head I) is,- turned to rotate'the worm and bring the sectorb to such aposition that the level will be in the. zero position,. thus bringing the axis Ir to a position vinthe vertical plane h-ich passes throughthe axi'sof-the trunnion. lhei gun mavthe nbe-elevated or depressed. asrequired i 1" By the des rib darrangen-ient of thetwoaifniedlever ndt consequen Q yhifti'ng.

.0 ary: d r ction Lotthe.

foresight theextent of the latters motion will be reduced in proportion to the ratio be- -taincd by a one-armed level tween the lengths of the t'w yer (i. l 1 i Fig. 12 shows that in the lateral motion caused by the bracketj'the optical axis of the panorama telescope always remains parallel to the line of sight determined by the foresight and backsight, angle a being equal to 0/ it is not necessary for the shifting of the telescope that the lever (1' should be a twoarmed one, as the required alteration of the position of the optical axis can also be obo arms of the le- In the arrangement above (lOSC-IfilX-(llt is necessary when the wheel base of the gun is 'on an incline in a transverse direction to effeet a correction in view of the fact that the axis on which the lever turns laterally does not remain in the vertical plane passing through. the sighting line, but retains its po-' sition relatively to the wheel axis, so as to be on a slant. 'lhe sighting line, in consequence of the slanted position of the said lever axis,

is thereby so shifted that it is, for example,

lowered in front and raised behiml. Thus,

on sightinga false sighting line. would be obtained unless a range'were assumed"which did not -.or.rcspond to the actual range, or,

unless a correction were-mad calculated tablesf In Figs; 13-15 I have shown an arrangeinent of the sighting apparatus whereby thenecessary correction can bccll'ccted without varying the range or without the use of corc by t'hc'aid of recting tables. This is effected by arrang-.

ing the saidaxis of the lever so as to be adustable. upon another axis in such maimer that when the wheel base s on an incline.- the loo lever axis can be brought back into the ver-' tical plane passing through the sighting line, or-into a. vertical plane. parallel thereto. (L is the lever pivotally-mounted on the. axis f) and carrying the foresight (1.2111(l the backsight (I as also the sighting telescope c, which lever on varying the. elevation of the gun and pp per carriage. is causcd'by the curved guid'c.

picccf-tixed. to the. upper gun carriage to turn which lies in the vertical plane passing through the. sigh-ting line or a. vertical plane.

parallel thereto. For this purpose accord- .ing'to the arrangement shownlbygway of ex-' ain )le, the iivo talaxisl) of tluisleveru is car-- ried at 'itsglo er end by a1 sleeve which 'isi mounted upionzza secondsleeveJiihttcd oose w pousthe cn' t theg n truin'iiomtlm of pivots 0 screws into y and serving as an upon which sleeve y and pivot 11 can pon sleeve Jr? by means when the trunnion axis and wheel base are inclined, thereby also inclining the axis of pivot I) out of the vertical plane through the sighting line, such axis canbe brought back into the said vertical plane b turning the 1 button I and thereb shifting t e extension];

,until the spirit leve is brou ht into the horizontal position again, and thusthe' lever c is brought back into the correct si hting position independently of the incline( osition of the tr'unnions and wheel base. n the arrangementshown the outer surface of the sleeve h is formed spherical, so as in all positions to serve in addition to the axis 0, as a an ort to the sleeve 9, pivot b and lever a. e sleeve 9 is provided with an arm g which carries a segmental plate q which moves over a curved standard g bolted to the car riage as shown in Fig. 13., The segmental plate g carries level g, Fig. 13, and may be clam ed to the standard g, at any position to w ich it isv adjusted, by means of a screw y. To the trunnion of the gun is fixed an arm 11 which carries a segment i graduated on its edge, as indicated at i, Fig. 14, so that the angle of elevation of the gun may he read from said graduations.

The bearing Z" for the button 1, Fig. 15, is mounted so as to slide in an arc-shaped track shown'i'n end elevation at Z, Figs. 13 and 15,

upon the axis b is truly vertical.

said track being bolted to the carriage. When'the gun is lanted in position the button l is turned to ring the level m to its zero position, and then the arm 9 is swung to ring itslevel into its zero position, where- The gun ma now'be elevated or depressed until the desired angle of elevation is laid. off on the graduated segment i and the sights will then be in proper adjustment for the final pointing of the gun.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is: j

1. The combination, with a gun, a sight, and means for adjusting the sight in elevation, of means for elevating the gun independently of the elevation of the sight, and means actuated by ..the elevation of-the gun independent of the sight and arranged to adjust the sight in azimuth to compensate for drift.

2. The combination, with a gun, a sight, means for ad'usting and fixing the sight in elevation, ant means for adjusting the. gun in elevation .while the elevation of the sight is fixed, of means actuated by the movement of the gun in elevation independent of the sight andarranged to adjust the sight in azimuth to com ens'ate for. drift.

3. T e combination, with a gun, nd a sightin device: compr sing a foresig t, of.

means 0 erated y the elevation of the indepen ent of the sight and arrange shift the foresight laterally.

4. The combination, with a gun, of a sight, means fcfi" moving. the sight in elevation, means for moving the gun in elevation independently of the elevation of the sight, afld a cam device fixed relative to the gun and arranged to shift the "sight laterally when the gun is elevated independentl ,of the sight.

5. The combinatioq wit a gun and a si ht, of a curved uide bracket movable w1th the gun and having an o erative face inclined to the vertical, a member carrying the foresight and en 'agin with the operative? face of the (UlVGt guit e, means for holdin said member against movement in a vertica plane, andmeans for elevating the gun and curved guide bracket whereby the sight is adjusted laterally tocom ensate for drift.

6. -In ordnance in whic i the position of the gun can be varied independently of the line of sight the combination with the gun of a foresight, a slide carrying the foresight, a curved guide bracket movable with the un and pivotally mounted on an axis paralldl to the gun's axis and means for adjusting the said bracket in such a mannerthat the angle which it forms with the vertical plane passing through the gun's axis can be varied in accordance with the variation of the angle formed between the trunnion axis of the gun carriage, and the horizontal plane, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth;

7. In ordnance'in which the position of the gun can be varied independently of the line of sight the combination with the gun of a foresight, a lmcksi ht aflever connecting the foresight with the backsight, a slide carrying the foresight a curved guide bracket mov-.

able with the gun and pivotally mounted on an axis parallel to the gun's axis and means for adjusting the said bracket in such a man- .ner that the angle which it forms with a vertical plane passing thr'ough the guns axis can be varied in accordance with the variations of'the' angle formed between the'trunnion-a'xis of the gun carriage and the hor,1-

zontal plane, substantially as described and i for thepurp'ose set forth.

8. In rdnance in which the positionoftho gun can be varied independently otthelin'e? of sight, the combination, the gun, of l uide device having a lateral inclined face, a

lever carrying a telescope and a slide fixed to the said lever and engaging with the lateral in lined face of the guide device, substantially vas described and for the purpose 'set forth. v

I 9, In ordnance in which the position of the i sighting line or a vertical planeparallel thereto notwithstanding any inclined position that the trunnions and wheel-base of the gun gun can be variedindependently of the line i, may assume, substantially asdesc-ribed and of sight the-combination withthe gun of a curved guide bracket, a levercarrying the 4 sighting device and a slidel fixed to the said lever and engaging with the curved guide bracket, the pivot of the lever being rotatable upon an axis ln'sucha manner as to ent. able the middle line of the lever to be brought into the vertical plane passing through the l for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof -I have affixed my signature to this specification, in the presence of two witnesses.

1 KARL VOLLER.

Witnesses:

' PETER L EBER,

E. HERBER. 

